


Reacquaintance

by OSuzanne (Emiline)



Category: Codename: Kids Next Door
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Friendship, Gen, Mystery, Post-Decomissioning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-06-12
Updated: 2008-06-11
Packaged: 2017-10-04 23:21:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emiline/pseuds/OSuzanne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"Now, they didn't tell me at first that you hadn't been decommissioned."</i> An Abby and Nigel friendship-focused fic, post-decommissioning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> This was one of my first serious attempts at fanfiction, and one of the only times I attempted writing something of this length. Looking back on this story two and a half years later, there are certain things I would change if I were writing this story now: for one, the plot is too simple and tidy, and I didn't quite get the right balance between character development and action. But all things considered, it could have been a lot worse.  
> Disclaimer: Codename: Kids Next Door belongs to Tom Warburton, Curious Pictures and Cartoon Network.

Nigel sat gloomily at a booth in the far back of the ice-cream parlor. He hadn't the heart to actually order anything. He stared at a Polaroid of five children, a frozen moment. There was a girl whose green shirtsleeves covered her hands and who had thrust a pink rainbow-monkey towards a short boy with blond hair that covered his eyes. Behind them, a chubby boy with aviator's goggles pointed to the blond boy, mid laugh. A girl whose red cap hid her eyes nonetheless seemed to be looking at the three with an I-can't-believe-you're-still-doing-this expression. The boy in front, bald and wearing sunglasses stood next to the girl with the red hat, glaring at the other three. Nigel sighed, and then jumped when a gentle hand landed on his shoulder.

"Numbah—Abby! What are you doing here?" he asked, turning his sad and slightly annoyed looking eyes towards the person attached to the hand. "You scared me half to death!"

"Sorry, Nigel," the girl began "Abby didn't realize your mind was somewhere else."

"Apology accepted" the British boy replied, a sad sort of half-smile coming over his face.

"Now, what can I do for you Abby?"

"Abby was hoping we go somewhere to talk."

Nigel froze for a moment. "A...All right." Then leader mode switched in. "How about to my house?"

"Sounds good to Abby."

They walked to the house in silence.

"Mom!" Nigel yelled. "Abby's come over, we'll be in my room."

"Ok sweetie," Mrs. Uno called back.

They climbed the stairs to Nigel's room. He motioned her to the desk chair and sat down on his. Abby looked for the first time since he had seen her that day, uncomfortable.

"Nigel, what Abby is about to tell you is true and Abby's really nervous that you won't believe her, so please let Abby finish before you say anything."

"Of course, Abby" Nigel replied, concerned. "You'll always be my dearest friend."

"Nigel, you have been thirteen for about two months. My thirteenth birthday was three weeks ago."

Nigel frowned. He wasn't sure he liked where this conversation was headed.

"You were not decommissioned. You are still part of the Kids Next Door."

Nigel gasped. How could she know?

Abby rushed on. "Well, they didn't decommission me either."

Nigel opened his mouth to speak.

"Please Numbah One, let me finish." Nigel stared for a moment, and then nodded his consent. She must have been really worried to start referring to herself in the first person.

"Now, they didn't tell me at first that you hadn't been decommissioned." She took a deep breath. It seemed to calm her down somewhat. "They didn't tell Abby much really, you know how secretive they are. They only tell you as much as they need to know. But today, they was going through and working out the assignments and info for the newly not-decommissioned operatives, and they gave me some stuff, and some stuff to give to you. You see, they want us to work together."

She finished and handed over a packet marked TOP SECRET. Nigel ripped it open and quickly glanced through its contents. Then, dropping the packet on the bed he jumped up and caught up Abby in a bone-crushing hug.

"Numbah Five, I'm so glad!" he cried. "I hated knowing that none of you would remember all of your childhoods correctly, all the great things we did."

"Numbah Five's glad too, Numbah One, but Numbah Five can't breathe."

"Oh, sorry Numbah Five." Nigel quickly released her and stepped back, blushing slightly.

"Nah, don't worry about it Numbah One" Abby grinned. "Numbah Five's okay."

Together they looked through the documents and talked about things for a few hours.

"So Numbahs Two, Three and Four really were decommissioned?" Nigel asked.

"Numbah Five's afraid so."

"I should have done something for them. If only I had done more drills or something."

"Numbah One, you are really stupid if you think it's all your fault that they were decommissioned."

"Isn't it? I'm their team leader, I'm supposed to be in charge, I take the blame."

"Numbah One, that is really egotistical. What they did is why they were decommissioned. Maurice told Numbah Five that if she worked really hard she might be able to avoid decommissioning. Numbah Five's not bagging on her teammates, but we are all different. Take Numbah Three. Three months from now she'll be a make-up wearin', boy crazy, shopping crazy teen. It's just the way she is. She is so naive and trusting and girly that she would have to really want to give up that stuff to stay with the KND. And frankly, can you see Numbah Three doing that?"

"I suppose you're right, Numbah Five. I hate speaking badly of my team- my former team," he corrected himself "but I think you're right."

"And Numbah Four. He wants acceptance just as much as Numbah Three. He'll probably try out for all the sports and not make it, but he's got a good heart and he'll survive. He and Kuki will be good for each other. They'll finally be able to stop pretending that they don't like each other."

"I'm surprised about Numbah Two" Nigel remarked. "His two by four technology is some of the best in KND history."

"Yeah, Numbah Five was surprised that Numbah Two got decommissioned." She shrugged.

There was silence for a few minutes.

"Numbah Five's really glad she can talk to you normally again" she began suddenly.

"Numbah Five was getting really sick of not being able to talk to anybody about KND. And Numbah Five really missed you, Numbah One."

"I missed you too. It's so good to be called by my number again. We will have to be super-dooper careful not to use them around other people though. Especially Lizzie. I have spent eleventy-bajallion hours since my 'decommissioning' convincing her I'm not part of that" and here he raised his voice to a falsetto " 'stupid little club that took all of your time, Nigie.' "

Numbah Five laughed at his impression of his girlfriend, Lizzie.

His face fell a little. "Now it's even more difficult, because she thinks I'm not a part of it anymore, but I am, so she wants to spend even more time with me. I just don't have that kind of time."

"Numbah Five understands." Abby said kindly. She didn't like Lizzie but she respected Numbah One. Numbah One liked Lizzie. Theirs was an odd relationship, but it seemed to work, at least some of the time. Numbah Five felt sure that if Numbah One wanted to end it with Lizzie, he would.

Numbah Five's cell phone rang. "Hello? Oh, sorry Mama, I lost track of the time. I'm over at a friend's house. I'll be home in ten minutes."

She turned back to Numbah One. "Numbah Five's sorry, she told her mama she'd be home at six."

"Not a problem, Numbah Five" Numbah One said crisply.

"Bye, Numbah One. Numbah Five will talk to ya tomorrow." She shoved her hat back on her head.

"Goodbye, Numbah Five."

Numbah Five retrieved her bicycle from the front yard and pedaled home.


	2. Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the Teen Ninjas could have groups at different schools, so I've created a local group. Also, my ice-cream parlor is run by men who will serve ice-cream to both teens and adults.

Nathaniel Eddington (1), the most popular boy at Russell Middle School, strode to the front of the nearly empty classroom. Five teens were sitting in desks, watching him. Hand picked, the best of the best. The most loyal, the most trusted members of the group who had been in this branch of the Teen Ninjas the longest.

"My fellow teens! Today is a glorious day! Today I reveal to you our plan that will break the Kids Next Door. They will be crushed by embarrassment! Defeated by shame! Trounced by the indignity of it all!"

The five listeners cheered.

"Fellow teens, I present _THE PLAN!_"

****

Numbah Five dropped onto the couch with a heavy sigh. It had been a long three weeks since she and Numbah One had been assigned to work with each other. It was not easy attempting to revive friendships with former Kids Next Door operatives.

"That bad?" Nigel inquired kindly, sitting down next to her.

"Yeah. You know Kuki, Numbah One. Numbah Five knew this was comin', but even she didn't realize Kuki would become so... so..."

"Girly?" Nigel offered.

"Not just that. She's become _the_ stereotypical teenage girl. Clothes, make-up, boys..." Numbah Five shuddered. "And yet she's still the same some how. Numbah Five can see that Kuki's havin' a hard time fitting in with the Teen Ninjas. Kuki's just too happy-go-lucky."

"I guess some things never change."

They both smiled.

"So what have you decided about Kuki?" Numbah One asked, feeling as though he probably already knew the answer.

"Numbah Five can't do it. Numbah Five's been trying these past three weeks, trying to be friends with Kuki but we just don't have enough in common anymore. " She rubbed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I understand completely Numbah Five." Numbah One's voice quavered.

"Got something in my eye" Numbah One muttered, turning away.

There was a long silence.

"Numbah Five's been getting along okay with Wally" she announced, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "He's in Numbah Five's P.E. class."

Numbah One raised an eyebrow. "How is that working out?"

Numbah Five started laughing "Poor Wally. He manages to mess everything up most of the time. Numbah Five is on his soccer team, and yesterday he was so excited when he got the ball, he didn't look where he was going and scored on our own goal."

Nigel shook his head. "Poor Wally. You can't say he's not enthusiastic. How many after school sports has he tried now?"

"Three, Numbah Five thinks. Whatever else people say about him, he's got a lot of courage to keep trying."

"Maybe his coordination will catch up with his enthusiasm soon. "

"Numbah Five's gonna get a root beer? You want one?"

"Absolutely."

"Hey. Numbah Five didn't know her mom got ice-cream!" She called. "You want a float?"

"Of course! That is even better! Thanks."

Numbah Five returned carrying two enormous root-beer floats.

"Hey, did anybody tell you about the big meeting Nathaniel held today? Numbah Five guesses since we're so new, they don't know enough about us to trust us with that kind of thing."

"Sadly, other than that a meeting occurred, no. Apparently it's on a need-to-know basis, and I don't qualify. I'm working on it though, and I've alerted the Kids Next Door."

"Have you tried asking Wally, or Hoagie?"

"Yes. Neither of them knew any more about it than I did. I'd have known if they were lying to me. I presume Kuki knew nothing?"

"You're right."

****

"My fellow teens, the plan is simple. I have instructions on how to make a substance that will, when it encounters an individual under the age of thirteen, cause thick, furry hair to grow all over their bodies. This effect will last five days before wearing off. They will look, like the little monkeys we have always known them to be."

He paused as the other teens laughed.

"As you know, the kids carnival at Gallagher Elementary school is in ten days time. As I am sure you know, our eight grade spring dance is that same Friday night. We will volunteer to fill the balloons for the carnival. We will release this substance, which we have made, into the balloons that will decorate the carnival. Half an hour after the carnival begins, we will remotely pop the balloons. It is a perfect plan, and gives us a perfect alibi, because we will be at our dance. We will bring one of our large, portable monitors to the dance, and watch as the Kids Next Door turn into hairy little apes!"

Applause thundered through the classroom.

"On Monday I will invite the entire eighth grade to come to the dance and watch our glorious defeat of the Kids Next Door!"

More cheering ensued. When it had quieted, one girl asked: "It won't adversely affect the adults, will it?"

"Of course not." Nathaniel snapped. "It will only affect the snot-nosed kids."

****

"Have you memorized the speech yet for Ms. Wayne's class?"

Numbah One made a face into his root beer. "No, not entirely. I wish she had picked two speeches from the _Richard III_. It's a little weird for the guys to be doing a woman's speech."

Numbah Five shrugged. "Yeah, but it's a pretty good speech. Queen Margaret telling off all those nobles. There is as much anger and passion as any of the male speeches."

"I suppose so. Who knows how the minds of teachers work."

"Want to practice with me? Maybe it'll be more interesting if we work together."

"Sure."

Numbah Five ran and got her book.

"Okay, why don't you start, Numbah One."

"Here goes nothing" Numbah One began. (2)

"_What, were you snarling all before I came,_

_ready to catch each other by the throat,_

_and turn you all your hatred now on me?_

_Did York's dread curse prevail so much with heaven_

_That Henry's death, my lovely—"_

Numbah One stood, with his eyes squeezed shut, hands clenched, lips moving soundlessly. After a moment he looked up. "I can't remember the rest of it.," he admitted. "Let me have the book and you continue."

Numbah Five took a deep breath.

"_That Henry's death, my lovely Edward's death,_

_Their kingdom's loss, my woeful banishment,_

_Should all but answer for that peevish brat?_

_Can curses pierce the clouds and enter heaven?_

_Why then, give way false clouds to my hard curses!"_

"It's _Why then, give way __**dull**__ clouds to my __**quick**__ curses!"_

"Oh. Okay then. Numbah Five thinks we both have some practicin' to do."

****

"I have picked the five of you because you are the best and most loyal members of our section of the Teen Ninjas. I trust you not to breathe a word to anyone about the exact nature of what we are doing. I'm sure you understand. The more people who know, the more likely that the Kids Next Door will find out. You are to reveal nothing about this meeting. I, and I alone will make the general announcement on Monday, after that, you may repeat what I tell them, but nothing more. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes!" they chorused.

"Good. Now, James and Arnold, you are going to be creating the substance and pumping it into the balloons. Melissa, you are going to tell the adults of our desire to help out, and you will collect the ingredients we need to create the substance. Logan, I want you to buy the balloons, we'll need fifty of them, and while you're at it, since you're the head of the dance committee, get us the decorations for our party. I'd like silver and gold balloons for us. Eliza, you're going to help me adapt our current technology to make sure the detonation process goes off without a hitch. And remember, be proud that you are part of the select team that will be responsible for the utter humiliation of the KND. James and Arnold, please stay for a moment. Everyone else is dismissed."

The other three filed out of the room. When the door was shut and locked, Nathaniel turned to the two remaining boys.

"What I'm about to tell you" he began, in a low voice. "does not leave this room. Understand?"

They nodded.

"There is a slight problem with the substance. If it touches a teenager, it will cause them to lose all the hair on their head. It will begin to grow again after five days, but it will not grow any faster than it normally does. I don't have to tell you to be extremely cautious when dealing with this substance."

He ran a hand through his curly brown locks.

"I don't know about you, but I'd like to keep my hair."

****

_Three Days Later_

"I have never been so glad for a week to end! Six tests in two days! Our teachers are crazy!"

"Definitely."

"Want to get some ice-cream?"  
"You know Abby never turns down ice cream. Race you there?"

"Sure!"

Abby had already started off, however.

"Hey, no fair!"

He chased her down two streets and around the corner. Abby was pretty fast, but so was Nigel.

"I'm gaining on you!" he yelled.

At that, she ran even faster.

Gasping for breath, they burst through the ice-cream parlor doors at the same time. The man behind the counter frowned at them.

"No running or horseplay inside my store, _children_," he informed them icily.

Nigel drew himself up straight. "We are not children, _sir_, we are teenagers. How dare you make such an insinuation?"

"Teenagers you may be, but you are acting like children."

Nigel made to say something but Abby beat him to it.

"We are so sorry sir. We will order our cones and leave, won't we Nigel?" She looped her arm in his. "I'll have a double chocolate sugar cone."

"Erm, I'll have one scoop of vanilla and one scoop of chocolate, in a sugar cone."

They paid for their cones, and strolled out of the parlor and down the street.

"What was that all about?"

"Num-Nigel, he was accusing us of being children. The longer we argued, the worse it was going to get. We were acting like children."

"You almost called me by my—Mmnph!"

Abby had clapped her hand over his mouth. She turned to face him, the ice cream in her other hand wobbling dangerously.

"Yes, Abby almost did" she hissed angrily. "And you nearly achieved the same effect just now."

Her ice cream toppled off and hit the ground with a splat, spraying both of them.

"Now look what you've done!" She stormed over to the trashcan and threw away the cone.

"How is that my fault?"

"What do you mean, how is that your fault? If you hadn't screwed up—"

"You started it!"

"Now we're back where we started! Being _childish_ again. Well I'm going home Nigel Uno! I don't have to put up with you!"

"Oh yeah? Well I don't have to put up with you either!"

"Fine. Go play with your little girlfriend!"

"I can't!" he bellowed after her.

Numbah Five stopped just long enough to shout back: "Why? Is she busy? Am I supposed to feel sorry because your schedules don't match up?"

"No!" he stopped. "No" he repeated, more in a normal tone this time. "I can't go play we with her because we broke up—rather I broke up with her."

Silence.

Nigel sat down on a relatively clean bit of sidewalk, suddenly exhausted. He pulled up his knees, crosses his arms, and lay his head down. After a few moments he heard footsteps moving towards him.

"Abby's so sorry" she whispered, crouching down beside him.

"Don't be," he muttered, raising his head to look at her. "It was over a long time ago anyways, I realize that now."

An arm tentatively wrapped around his shoulders.

"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. Abby's sorry she lost her temper with you earlier."

"I'm sorry too."

"Abby hopes you know she'll always be there for you. Even if we get angry at each other sometimes, Abby couldn't ever be angry with you for long. Your Abby's best friend."

"Thank you." he spoke quietly.

She straightened up, and offered him a hand. He took it gratefully. When they were standing she wrapped her arms around him. He returned the hug.

"I'll remember," he promised.

_A/N_

_(1) I borrowed Nathaniel's last name from Michael Eddington, a minor re-occurring character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. _

_(2) The speech they are practicing comes from _ _ Richard III _ _, Act One, scene iii._


	3. Dancing Rainbow Monkeys

_Monday_

Abby raced down the corridor. She skidded to a halt in front of Room 102. Wrenching the door open, she slid into her seat just as the bell began to ring.

"Nice of you to join us, Miss Lincoln." Mr. Cooper, their homeroom teacher looked annoyed. "Homeroom is only fifteen minutes before the beginning of the rest of the school. Is it too much to ask you to arrive in a timely manner?"

The rest of the class watched her with interest.

"Sorry Mr. Cooper."

"You know my rules. You must be sitting down _before_ the bell rings. This is your third tardy. I'm giving you detention this afternoon."

He handed her a pink detention slip. The loudspeaker crackled to life.

"Gooooood morning Russell Middle School." Nathaniel's voice rang out. "I'd like to remind you all about our eighth grade spring dance this Friday. I hope you are all coming, because it is going to be great. There is going to be a really awesome surprise there that you won't want to miss. See you there! This is Nathaniel Eddington, signing out."

Something about the way he spoke set alarm bells off in Abby's head.

****

Abby grabbed her lunch tray and swung by Nigel's table. He was sitting with Hoagie and Wally.

"Abby's got detention after school, so she'll be late." She informed him quietly, before walking away.

"Ooo, going to have a little rendezvous?" Hoagie inquired mischievously, drawing out the last word slightly.

Nigel glared at him.

"Very funny," he replied.

"Nigel and Abby, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S— OW!" Wally cried. "Wha'd yeh have to go and stomp ahn my foot for?"

"I wanted to get your attention." Nigel smirked. "Now unless you want the entire school to know you have a crush on Kuki, you'll refrain from spreading false rumors about my love life."

"Yeh wouldn't!"

"Watch me."

Across the extremely noisy lunchroom, Kuki watched the table where Wally sat. She noticed Abby walk by and bend over to speak to Nigel. There was something going on between those two, she was sure of it. She had noticed the two of them speaking in what appeared to be hushed tones many times over the past few weeks. Now Nigel was glaring at Hoagie. Wally started to say something, then let out an exclamation of some kind. Nigel whispered something to him, and Wally glanced fearfully once in Kuki's direction. Yes indeed, Nigel and Abby were up to some sort of plan. She'd bet her Rainbow Monkeys on it.

****

As Abby left detention, she heard Nathaniel Eddington's voice.

"I'm very busy Arnold, what is the problem?"

"Well, you know how you told us about that thing you're planning for the carnival?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down for heaven's sake."

Heart racing, Abby snuck down the hallway towards the voices.

"Well, boss, where do you want us to fill the balloons? If we fill them here we don't have to move the substance as far, but we risk popping them prematurely."

Intent on listening to the conversation, Abby didn't notice the binder on the floor and stumbled over it.

"What was that?" Nathaniel's voice again.

She could hear them moving closer. Frantically she looked around. There was a classroom across the hall. She tried the handle, and it opened. She quickly moved inside and shut the door. Not a moment too soon. She heard Nathaniel's voice muffled say

"I don't see anyone around the corner. But it's not safe to talk about this here."

Their footsteps faded, and Abby moved her head away from the door, with a sigh of relief.

"Abby?"

Abby screamed and whirled around. "Oh, Ms. Wayne." she said. "Abby's so sorry, Abby thought this room was empty."

"Evidently." Ms. Wayne smiled kindly. "What exactly were you doing?"

Abby thought fast.

"Abby erm, wanted to ask this one boy to the dance, and she thought she saw him in the hall and she went to go ask him but then she heard him turnin' around and she lost her nerve and kinda freaked out and hid in here." The words poured out of her at top speed. "Sorry Ms. Wayne."

To her surprise, Ms. Wayne chuckled.

"It's alright Abby, I know what that feels like."

"Ma'am?" The idea of Ms. Wayne as a giggling schoolgirl was very difficult to picture.

"Oh, just because I'm old doesn't mean I don't remember what young love is like" Ms. Wayne replied, smiling. "Go on, and good luck."

"Thanks Ms. Wayne."

****

Nigel Uno opened the door to find a breathless Abby.

"Nigel, Abby found somethin' really important."

He ushered her inside and put a finger to his lips.

"Both my parents are home today."

They made their way up to Nigel's room. He shut the door behind and began rummaging under his bed for something.

"What are you looking for?"

" _They_ sent me something today. It will be better if we don't talk about this until I find it. Aha— got it!"

He pulled out a device and pressed a button. A large, clear, tent-like structure popped up.

"Step inside." he grinned.

When they were both inside, he continued: "It's one of the older models. The Moonbase didn't want to give me anything that would be needed right away. This is the S.I.L.E.N.C.E.

Sound

Is

Lost

Exiting

Not

Coming

Ever."

"So, we can talk and hear what is going on outside of it, but people outside can't hear us?"

"Exactly."

"Abby found out a little about what is going on."

"Great! Moonbase sent me some info that they came up with. Here, I've already read it."

Abby glanced over the paper.

" They're gonna release a gas that will make all kids really hairy? That's just gross. Good thing it wears off."

"I guess they're planning to do it on Friday."

"Abby overheard a couple of teens talking about this today, after detention."

"Really? Do you know who they were? The KND couldn't find out who was involved. They got their info from the adults who sold the teens the recipe."

"It was Nathaniel Eddington and his buddy Arnold Fitzwald. It sounded like Eddington was in charge of the operation, and Arnold was going to put the gas in the balloons that are gonna be at the carnival at the elementary school on Friday."

"Of course!" Nigel cried.

"There are probably a couple of other people involved."  
"Logan Sanderson!"

"What?"

"Don't you see?" Nigel cried excitedly. "He's the head of the dance committee! I'd bet a week's worth of lunch money he's in on it."

"That makes sense. There's a good chance James Quen is involved, as well. He, Arnold and Nathaniel are three peas in a pod."

"So that's four people we think are involved, two for sure. They could probably do it with just four people. Can you type up a report to send back to the Moonbase? I'm sure they'll want to hear about this."

"Sure."

"Oh, there's another thing I've been thinking about Abby."

"Yes?"

"I think we ought to stop using our Numbahs, even in private. It's too easy to accidentally slip up while we are among the teens."

"Abby agrees with you there, Nigel."

****

"Good work Melissa. Now James and Arnold can create this gas."

Nathaniel dismissed her and turned back to his companion. The table they stood before was covered with wires and bits of electronics.

"Eliza, I'm having trouble with the power relays. Too much charge is getting through, at this power level the balloons won't pop, they'll be incinerated."

****

The phone rang in Kuki Sanban's room.

"Hello?"

"Hey Kuki, this is Logan."

"Hi Logan! How are the dance preparations going?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually. One of the dance committee team is sick and we need someone to help set up Friday evening. Are you interested?"

"Of course! Thank you, this is so exciting! I've always wanted to be on the dance committee!" she squealed.

"Good. Be at the gym at seven o'clock. Bye."

"Bye!"

She hung up the phone and started dancing around her room.

"Wheeee! I'm going to be helping at the dance and it'll be all pretty and wonderful and ... Where's my Dancy Rainbow Monkey? I have to find him and tell him!"

She started digging through the mountain of stuffed animals.


	4. Strategies Go Awry

_Thursday Evening_

"Sit down!" Abby snapped. "I can't very well treat you if you're pacing around."

"I can't believe I was so stupid!" the British boy berated himself. "I didn't check that everyone who was down was out!"

"Nigel, please!"

The boy flung himself down on the chair, crying out as his injured arm hit the desk.

Abby gently took the arm and wiped at it with a damp towel.

Nigel buried his face in his free hand. "I can't believe we failed so thoroughly. We followed James for two days, we snuck into the Teen Ninja meeting room, we attempted to steal James's girlfriend's diary, and today we got ambushed when we tried to enter the main Teen Ninja base."

"Thank goodness we were in disguise the whole time," Abby remarked calmly as she wrapped Nigel's forearm with gauze. "Now stay put while I go get some ice for your knee."

When she came back, Nigel's computer screen crackled to life.

"Abby, Nigel," the boy on the screen began. "I have some— whoa, what happened to you guys?"

"Never mind, just some souvenirs from one of our attempts to uncover the data."

"Well, the Kids Next Door have come up with a new plan. We've uncovered some more intelligence about the plan for tomorrow. The teens are going to fill the balloons in the multi-purpose room at Russell. We're sending in Sector N to deal with it, but we need you two to create a diversion to distract Arnold, whose job it is to fill the balloons. One of you should be the distraction, the other the lookout. The details about time and such will be sent later through a super-secure channel. But it will be sometime Friday afternoon, obviously."

"Okay. We're on it."

The connection was severed abruptly.

"Oh, don't look like that, Nigel. There are only two of us. It's a great deal more difficult for us to work now than when we were part of the regular Kids Next Door. We don't have the same support and equipment. As hard as it is for both of us to accept, we're not always gonna succeed."

"Right. Let's talk about distractions." Nigel began, a little too briskly.

****

Arnold was in a foul mood as he poured the concoction into the containers that would be taken to the school the next day. Two days prior he had asked an attractive and intelligent girl, Amelia, to the dance, but she had downright refused him.

****

Wally sat by the phone, reaching out and snatching his hand back, repeatedly. Kuki's phone number was clutched tightly in his shaking hand. Back and forth, back and forth.

"Wally! Time for bed!" his mom called.

"Ah, Mom!"

"No ahs!"

With a sigh Wally turned off the light and crawled into bed.

****

"Nuh uh. Abby ain't doing it."

"Please Abby, you know how important the distraction is. Nothing we've come up with in the past forty-five minutes has been remotely possible.

"Didn't you hear Abby? She said no."

"Look, I know you're not happy about it—"

"Not happy doesn't even begin to cover it, Nigel."

"—but the Kids Next Door need us. We have to provide the initial distraction so Sector N can get in. It'll take too much time and too many operatives if they have to create the distraction themselves."

"You do it then!"

"I can't do it! You've got to do it. You need to use your feminine wiles on him!"

"Nigel!"

He stumbled on, ignoring of the interruption. "I haven't got any feminine wiles!" He cried, his voice cracking.

Abby's anger dissolved. She started laughing.

"Abby?" Nigel asked, slightly worried at this sudden change in mood.

Tears streamed down the girl's cheeks. She was now curled up on the floor, shaking silently, arms crossed and clutching her sides,

"Oh, Nigel," she gasped, "were you listening to yourself?"

"What?"

She took a couple of deep breaths, lowered her voice and adopted a British accent. "Abby, I haven't got any feminine wiles." She resumed her normal voice. "Abby was imagining you all dolled up, with make-up and a pink frilly dress and fingernail polish, sashaying up to him and" she adopted a falsetto to go with the accent this time 'Oh Arnold, you look so handsome." Abby batted her eyelashes. "Oh Arnold, you are so funny!"

"Hey, knock it off!" Nigel tried to sound affronted but then he saw the humor in the situation and started laughing too.

After they had calmed down, Nigel turned to Abby and began:

"Abby, I really am very sorry about this. If I had any other plausible ideas I would have offered them first."

"Abby's knows that. It's not your fault, Nigel. Abby will do it."

"Thanks Abby. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"You better." She playfully punched Nigel's good arm, and winced as pain shot through her recently bandaged shoulder.

"Forgot about that" she said lightly, noting Nigel's worried expression.

"You got hurt pretty badly too, yours are just less visible. But you need to be careful too." he told her.

"Okay, Mom." she teased.

He hit her back.

"You'd better wear a long-sleeve shirt tomorrow, you shouldn't take that bandage off except to change it. Abby's got to get home before Mom starts worrying. In fact" she glanced at her watch "Since it's 9:30, it's a little late for that."

"See you tomorrow Abby. Can you meet me here about 6:30AM so I can give you the info the Kids Next Door are sending us?"

"Sure."


	5. Falsehoods and Surprises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This chapter is dedicated to my wonderful beta-reader, who has endured all my crazy ideas. In addition, it is due to her that Kuki Sanban still plays a major role. I was initially planning to move Kuki to some other town, never to return. Now that she is staying, I've matured Kuki a bit. After all, she is thirteen now, and she deserves it._

_Friday Afternoon_

Abby stared at Cree's open closet and wondered whatever had possessed her to agree to Nigel's crazy scheme. She never wore clothes like these. Never.

An hour later, and after having gone through every item in Cree's closet, Abby finally had assembled an outfit that she could tolerate. A pair of dark blue jeans with embroidery, a plum-colored short sleeve shirt that covered the bandage on her right shoulder, and a pair of low-heeled black sandals. She was particularly annoyed about the heels, since she had almost no practice wearing them, but none of her shoes were appropriate for the situation she was going into.

Now fully in costume, she eyed herself critically in the mirror. After a moment, she undid her customary braid and shook out her hair. Carefully, she ran a brush through it and put it up in a high ponytail. This morning Nigel had informed her about the effect the gas would have on the teenagers. She supposed she could bear doing something different with her hair, for once, since by the end of the evening she would be as bald as her friend.

A tear rolled down her cheek and she brushed it away, furious at herself. _It's just hair_, she told herself. _It'll grow back. _She wobbled her way out the door, cursing the high-heeled shoes.

****

Nathaniel Eddington smiled. "Well done, my friends. Everything is in its place. Tonight will be our night of victory over the obnoxious brats, and it will be our night of glory."

Arnold, James and Eliza stood before him.

"Nate, the containers are ready. We have gold balloons for our event, and red ones for the little kiddies." Arnold informed him.

"Excellent. Eliza, I would like to congratulate you on a job well done. You fixed the errors in our detonation system marvelously."

"Thank you, Nate." she inclined her head.

"I will control the detonation process myself." Nathaniel continued.

Eliza frowned, but said nothing.

"My dear, the fewer people who are involved, the better, as I have said before." Nathaniel spoke silkily. "And I would not want to ruin your fun at the dance."

He turned and spoke to Arnold and James.

"You two will be here, filling the balloons, is that correct?"

They nodded.

"Tonight—" Nathaniel paused dramatically, "—we make history!"

The teens cheered.

****

"Nigel!"

"Are those... high-heels?"

"Yes."

"Ah. Shall we be going then?"

"The sooner we get this over with the better. Abby can't wait to get out of these ridiculous shoes."

"Ok, you'll have to go through the gymnasium to the back room" Nigel whispered. He handed her a butterfly hair-clip. "Here, put this on," he continued.

"Why?"

"When you have successfully distracted Arnold, touch both wings at the same time. That will activate a signal that will be transmitted to Sector N so they'll know it's safe to make their move. I'll be distracting Nathaniel."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I have a plan, but we won't be able to be in contact while we're working. If something goes wrong, we'll just have to deal with it. We'll meet behind the bleachers in half an hour."

****

Kuki Sanban hummed cheerfully as she decorated the gym with posters and streamers. It was really very nice of Logan to invite her to join the decorations committee. Kuki had come early so that she would have plenty of time to do a good job. James was in the far corner, checking the balloon shipment, and Arnold was working in the room beyond, getting ready for them to fill the balloons. She heard the door open, and turned to look. It was Abby, whose eyes darted quickly around the room before settling on Kuki with surprise. Abby strode, or rather tried to—was she wearing high-heels? over to Kuki's position just as James went to talk to Arnold.

"Abby, oh my goodness, you are wearing high-heels! You look great!" Kuki squealed.

"What are you doing here Kuki?"

"Oh, just ignore the compliment, will you?"

Abby shook her head as though to clear it.

"Thanks" she said. "And sorry, Abby just wasn't expecting to see you here. Or James for that matter."

"What are you doing here, Abby? The dance doesn't start for another hour and a half."

"Abby... uh well, Abby wanted to... toaskArnoldsomething." she rushed over the words.

"What was that?" Kuki inquired innocently"

Abby glanced furtively around the room.

"Abby wanted to ask Arnold if he'd go to the dance with her" she whispered, cheeks burning.

"I see. It's a little late for that, isn't it?"

"You mean he's already got a date?" Abby looked slightly panicky.

"No, but like I said, it's an hour and a half before the dance. Aren't you cutting it a little close?"

"I was nervous" Abby bristled. "I had to work my courage up."

"Hmm"

"Anyways, do you think maybe you could possibly keep James occupied for a couple of minutes so I can ask Arnold? I really can't do it if he's there too. Please Kuki, will you help me?" Abby put on her best puppy-dog face.

"Why don't you trust me, Abby? You're not telling me the truth."

Abby looked genuinely startled. "What?"

"We're not exactly the same are we? You're a lot more tomboyish than I am. I know you get frustrated with me sometimes because I'm too girly for you. But just because I am girly and not afraid to show it doesn't mean I'm stupid. I've known you a long time. I know we used to be friends when we were little, and maybe we can't be friends anymore, but I know you, Abby Lincoln and I know when you are lying to me. Why won't you tell me what is going on?"

"Oh Kuki, Abby wishes she could, but she can't."

"I'll help you, because we were friends before and I trust _your_ judgment. I really wish you felt the same about me."

"Thank you." Abby whispered. She felt as though she would like to melt into the ground and disappear.

****

Nigel found Nathaniel up at the front of the school.

"Nathaniel?"

"Yes?"

Nigel stuck out his hand. The other teen ignored it, so Nigel dropped his. "My name is Nigel Uno. I'm one of the new recruits."

"Ah, one of the newbies. The just-barely teens. The baby-faced, green recruits. Welcome to the big-kids playground." He laughed. "Hey, aren't you dating Lizzie Devine?"

"I don't think it's really any of your business, but I was. I'm not anymore."

"Hmm. Well, what do you want, Nigel Uno?"

"I wanted to let you know that I am very excited about what you've been doing with the teens. I've heard about a lot of the amazing things you've done, and I've got to hand it to you."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere, Mr. Uno."

"I'm not trying to get in to the upper levels of the Teen Ninjas without working for it. It's just that the school year is almost over, and I wanted to let you know what a great job I think you're doing. I hope you'll been running the Teen Ninjas in high school as well."

"I hope so too."

****

Abby took a deep breath and walked into the back room of the gym.

"Hello, Arnold."

"Abby, what a pleasant surprise, I certainly did not expect to see you here." He said smoothly, thinking how nice she looked.

She surveyed the room quickly. There were the canisters.

"Abby's so glad she was able to find you." Her voice was warm and friendly.

"Indeed?"

"Yes." Inwardly she cursed herself. This was proving to be even more difficult than she had anticipated. Unexpectedly, Arnold opened up an avenue more suited to her task.

"Abby, I must say, you look quite lovely this evening."

She blushed and rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "Thanks. You look pretty nice yourself."

"Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Actually" she moved backwards and to the right slightly "there is."

He responded beautifully, moving towards her.

"Well?"

She shifted to the right a little more and giggled nervously. Good, he was definitely focusing on her now, and they were just far enough around the shelving unit that the containers weren't in their sight line. She touched the two wings of the butterfly, and felt a short zap of electrical current. Excellent. Now she had to stall for about 3 minutes.

"Abby was, well, she was wondering if you were going to the dance with anyone."

"Unfortunately not." Pain flashed over his features briefly. "Are you?"

"Not yet"

"This wouldn't be a subtle attempt to ask me, would it?" he inquired.

"No, of course not!" _That was the plan to distract him wasn't it?_ she thought, mentally berating herself. "That is" she attempted to salvage the situation "unless you want it to be" she finished; throwing in what she hoped was a coy smile. Unfortunately, in her nervousness she bumped against the shelf behind her, knocking several bottles of window cleaner over. Hurriedly she began to pick them up.

"Here, let me help you."

"Thanks"

"No problem. And sure, I'll go to the dance with you. You're a nice girl, Abby."

She felt a small pang in her stomach. Arnold was a decent guy most of the time. But this deception was necessary.

"Are you going to stick around, or should I meet you here later?"

"Abby told a friend she'd help her get ready for the dance. Can Abby meet you here about seven?"

"Certainly. See you then." he made a half-bow to her.

Despite the fact that her insides churning with adrenaline, relief that she'd done her part successfully, and fright at what she'd gotten herself into, Abby walked calmly from the room.


	6. No Room to Escape

_Friday Evening_

_6:30 PM_

"Good work" Nigel spoke in a low voice. The slivers of sunlight coming through the bleacher threw stripes across his face. "I just received a message from Moonbase that the mission was a success and— are you all right Abby?"

"Abby's fine" she replied absently. "Did you learn anything useful?"

"No. Nathaniel is arrogant and egotistical, but we knew that already. After tonight, though, it's unlikely that he'll be important."

"Abby ran into Kuki." Abby announced apropos of nothing. It was not clear that she had heard a word he had said. "James was there too. That posed a minor problem but Abby... overcame it." She stared straight ahead, unseeing.

"I will never forget Kuki's parting words to me," she whispered, her voice so low Nigel had to strain to hear it.

"She said: 'I'll help you, because we were friends before and I trust _your_ judgment. I really wish you felt the same about me."

"Wow," Nigel breathed. "Perhaps you had better start at the beginning, Abby".

****

Two boys loaded one of two canisters onto the back of the truck. The boxes of red balloons were already strapped down.

"See you in a half-hour, James" Arnold called as the truck drove away.

The boy walked to the restroom to freshen up, now that he had a date to the dance. He wouldn't have thought of asking Abigail Lincoln, he readily admitted to himself. He had been so enamored of that other girl that he hadn't really noticed anyone else. Abby was bright and funny and fairly good-looking. He smiled, remembering her nervousness. It was kind of exciting knowing someone had a crush on you.

****

Abby leaned against one of the posts that supported the bleachers. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, she felt weary. Nigel stood, still digesting what she had told him. He frowned.

"Why did you ask him to the dance?"

"You're kidding right? You were the one who said Abby should use her feminine wiles to distract Arnold. Where did you think that was gonna go?"

"I thought that..."

"You thought what? Honestly, Nigel, imagine yourself in the situation for a minute. You're at school way before the dance supposedly getting the dance set up, but you're really working on a plan to defeat the Kids Next Door. A girl whom you only know a little shows up and starts flirting with you. Now imagine she flirts with you for about five minutes; then she excuses herself and leaves without asking you out, or for your phone number, or anything. Wouldn't you find that pretty weird?"

"I guess I didn't really think it all the way through," he admitted finally. "It is rather unfortunate that it was him. If you're going to have to pretend date a member of the Teen Ninjas, there are guys closer to the top that would be a better use of your time."

"Well excuse me. Abby's sorry that she followed through with what _you_ told her to do."

"I'm sorry, it's just this... situation bothers me."

"Obviously. Hey, don't worry Nigel, Abby promises to be careful."

****

James was back from the carnival.

"Everything is set Nate."

"Excellent." The teen grinned. This was going to be the best dance in years.

****

Abby was surprised to find she was enjoying the dance. Arnold had turned out to be surprisingly good company. Nigel was never comfortable in a circumstance such as this, but if he was unable to act relaxed, he had at least managed to disguise his tension by getting into an argument with Fanny Fulbright.

"May I have your attention please? YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!" Nathaniel's voice boomed out over the loudspeaker. The chattering died down slowly, finally coming to a halt.

"Thank you. If you will all direct your attention to the monitor, the grand finale of the night is about to occur!"

Heads turned and the whispering began. The monitor flickered to life, showing the carnival at Gallagher Elementary School. Abby didn't dare look in Nigel's direction as she held her breath.

The sound of a hundred balloons popping all at once momentarily deafened her. The gym was covered with little pieces of latex and clumps of hair. Sound rushed back into her ears: screams, cries of rage, and wailing noises. She could feel that her hair was gone. Her eyes threatened tears and she let them fall. It was after all, the appropriate response.

Chaos broke out. About half the teens seemed unable to grasp what had just happened and stood, stock-still gaping. The rest of them were screaming, or yelling, or frantically trying to pick their hair out of all the piles.

"Abby!"

Someone was shouting in her ear. She turned and saw Arnold.

"Am I dreaming?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "I doubt it."

"I don't understand, we specifically chose the colors so—" he cut himself off abruptly.

"What?" she yelled. "I couldn't hear you."

He smiled in relief. "Never mind!" he yelled back.

The cacophony was brought to a standstill by an awful screeching noise emitting through the loudspeakers. Nathaniel stood by the DJ, holding a microphone.

"Everyone, calm down."

"Calm down!" several people shouted. "How can we calm down—"

"What is going—"

"I can't believe—"

"Everybody SHUT UP!" Nathaniel bellowed.

That seemed to do the trick.

"Now, lets try to figure this out. Obviously someone was either highly incompetent or a traitor. Eliza, you were responsible for the detonation process."

"How dare you insinuate that it was me? I double and tripled checked those calculations. The detonation process was directly tied to the gas, not the location. What about you? You're our leader."

"Nonsense!" Nathaniel yelled. "James, why didn't you notice that you had the wrong stuff?"

"Hey, don't try to blame this one on me. I did what I was supposed to. Arnold and I did it together. He can vouch for me."

"Yeah!"

"But you two were the only ones working on it."

"Wait!" James sounded panicky. "It might have been Arnold. He was in there alone for a few minutes."

"That was your fault!" Arnold cried. "You went off with Kuki."

"Kuki tricked me! She's probably the one who messed things up!" James grabbed Kuki's arm and thrust he towards Nathaniel.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Nathaniel's voice trembled with anger.

"I had no idea of what was going on, and I still don't understand it."

"Sure you don't" James sneered.

"Yeh leave her alone, yeh hear?" A small, angry, formerly blond headed kid barreled through to the center of the action. "I know Kuki, and whatevah is going ahn, she had not'ing to do with it."

"Ah, Wallabee Beatles. The would-be knight in shining armor." Nathaniel laughed. "You two—" he motioned to two burley guys "—Take them away."

Accusations were shouted from every direction at the main leaders of the Teen Ninjas. Abby knew that if something were not done soon, a real brawl would break out. She pushed her way to the front of the room and grabbed the microphone, which had fallen in the melee.

"STOP! Stop, all of you, this instant!"

The crowd turned to this interruption.

"It isn't helping to fight each other."

"It was you! I saw you!"

All eyes turned to James, who stood, quivering, pointing an accusing finger at Abby.

"I saw you come into the gym. You went to 'talk' to Arnold, didn't you? You charmed him and somehow switched the containers. It's all your fault!"

"That's crazy! I wanted to ask Arnold out."

"Sure you did. That was just a convenient excuse."

"No! I've liked him for a long time but I couldn't get the courage up to ask him out." Her cheeks burned with anger. She hoped the others would mistake it for embarrassment.

"I know it was you." James sounded confident.

The tide turned against her. The crowd advanced shouting accusations. It was somewhat surreal, scores of bald heads moving towards her. She could see Nigel struggling to get through. She half hoped he wouldn't be able to. There was nothing he could do to help her, and he would only get himself in trouble. There was nowhere for her to go, the crowd was between her and the doors. This was it. She seemed to be separate from her body, watching the teens advance. Absurdly, she was reminded of the monologue Ms. Wayne had made them memorize.

"_What, were you snarling all before I came..." _she whispered to herself. Suddenly she realized she had the perfect distraction. The teens would be so confused as to why she was spouting Shakespeare, they wouldn't fight each other. That blasted speech was going to come in handy after all. She took a deep breath and began anew.

"_What, were you snarling all before I came,_

_ready to catch each other by the throat"_

Some in the advancing crowd wore puzzled expressions. A couple more shouted, "She's batty!" Abby smiled, closed her eyes and continued:

"_and turn you all your hatred now on me?_

_Did York's dread curse prevail so much with heaven_

_That Henry's death, my lovely Edward's death._

_Their kingdom's loss, my woeful banishment,_

_Should all but answer for that peevish brat?"_

Someone was gently pulling the microphone from her fingers. She let it go. The noise changed

"My fellows teens" a familiar voice began. "I am as eager as you to find the person who committed this atrocity and punish them. But I think it is clear that Abigail Lincoln is not that person."

The murmurs grew louder, then ceased.

"What kind of guilty person starts reciting Shakespeare when faced with an angry mob? For that matter, what teen recites Shakespeare at a dance, regardless of the circumstances?"

Was that Nigel's voice? She kept her eyes firmly shut.

"I think we can all agree, that only a crazy person, or someone who is very ill, would do that. We've had a few spring colds going around campus. Clearly they have mutated to a more dangerous strain."

Some moments passed. Abby opened her eyes long enough to verify that it was Nigel. People seemed to be taking the idea seriously.

"If you will permit it, I will take this ill girl outside and call her parents to come pick her up. We certainly don't want her infecting anyone else."

She felt Nigel's hand on her arm and opened her eyes all the way.

"You are very ill, Abigail, you've got to go home."

She nodded dumbly and allowed him to lead her out of the gym. People whispered as they went by and cleared a path.

Once outside, he stopped and asked her very seriously and loud enough for any lurking listeners to hear: "Do you remember your home phone number?"

She nodded again and pulled out her cell-phone.

"Now call your parents and ask them to come pick you up. Would you like to sit down?" He gestured to a bench.

"Yes, thank you."

Nathaniel strolled up. "Might I have a word with you, Mr. Uno?" he inquired.

They moved off a little distance away.

"That was a pretty impressive show you put on back there, Nigel. I admit I underestimated you."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't play dumb. I know what you were doing. You were trying to protect your friend. Admirable, but very stupid Nigel, very stupid. Fortunately for you, they were convinced."

Nigel opened his mouth but Nathaniel held up a hand.

"No, don't worry, I don't think your dear Abigail could be the one who messed up tonight's mission. It would be nearly impossible for her to have done so. Traitors are not as uncommon as people think. No, I think James or Arnold, or perhaps both of them did it. I know they envy me. They both want my position."

Nigel made a non-committal grunt.

Nathaniel smiled. "Remember, I'm letting you go this time, but next time, I may not be so lenient. I'll be keeping an eye on you Nigel Uno. I do hope you don't catch whatever... _illness_... Abigail has."

Before Nigel could respond, Nathaniel had swept back into the gym. Nigel hurried back to where Abby was sitting.

"Are your parents coming?" he asked.

"Yes, what—"

"We'll talk later."


	7. Epilogue

_Tuesday Afternoon_

"How are we feeling today, Queen Margaret?" Nigel teased gently, pulling Abby's desk chair over to her bed so he could sit down next to her.

"This is all your fault" Abby croaked, a smile on her face. "You went ahead and told them Abby was sick, and now Abby's come down with a cold."

"Well, now they're more likely to believe me." He patted her arm through the bedspread.

"We have to work on our infiltration of the Teen Ninjas, Abby does not ever want to have to go through something like that again. We should have known several days in advance, at least, what the Teens were planning."

"Yes, we clearly have work to do in that area. You were marvelous though. The members of Sector N were able to switch the labels on the two canisters using the new glue-removing technology developed by Numbah 84.67, and re-attach them. It's such an old trick, but an effective one."

"What did Nathaniel want to talk to you about?"

"He's clever, I'll give him that. He saw through the whole speech I gave them about you being ill. Oddly enough, he seemed to genuinely believe you had nothing to do with it, which was fortunate, since James just about nailed it on the head."

"Another disadvantage of last-minute plans."

"Thanks for getting Abby out of there. She figured out how to distract them, but hadn't figured out an exit strategy."

"You're welcome. What are friends for? Oh, you'll be pleased to know that James has been kicked out of the Teen Ninjas. Nathaniel believed that James caused the mix-up in an attempt to usurp Nathaniel's throne. Nathaniel has lost his leadership position, and Arnold and Eliza have also been demoted."

"No doubt there are a hundred teens ready to fill their positions."

"No doubt."

Abby yawned. "Sorry, Abby's still a little tired from this stupid cold."

"I'll let you rest then. You want to be well for finals."

Abby groaned. "Thanks for reminding Abby."

He got up, replaced the chair and turned towards the door. His hand was on the handle when he heard Abby's voice once more.

"Oh and Nigel, don't you _dare_ mention feminine wiles ever again."

"Only around Hoagie."

"Nigel!"

"I'm kidding!" He ducked to avoid the pillow she had thrown at him. "I promise never to mention them again unless it's life-threatening."

"Yeah, that's likely to happen."

"Goodbye Abby. I'll come by tomorrow with your homework."

"Bye Nigel."

****

Nathaniel Eddington sat in basement of his house, grinding his teeth and drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair. Demoted, him, at what should have been his moment of glory. Now that he had had some time to reflect, he decided he had made an error. He had told Nigel that he did not believe Abigail was the saboteur, but now, he wasn't sure. He was beginning to think that Abigail or Nigel, or both, had been involved. Unfortunately, his superiors would not let him go on personal vendettas. He vowed to nonetheless keep an eye on those two. If he obtained _proof_, then he would go to his superiors. Nathaniel was patient. He would sit back, watch and wait— for now.

_Finis_

**Author's Note:**

> From this fic's original posting elsewhere, I would like to thank GoldenFlither, abby93 and FanGirl4315, for their support and encouragement.


End file.
